An Lin was in a very peculiar state.
He opened his eyes to discover that there was no longer any white present in them; both of his eyes had become pitch-black. His field of vision was also a vast expanse of inky darkness, as if he had lost all vision.
However, he could sense all the things in the world.
He couldn’t see in a literal sense, but at the same time, he could “see” more than ever before.
He could see Xu Xiaolan casting a concerned glance toward him. He could see his friends and companions engaged in a grueling battle in the Wind Plain State. He could see the Heavenly Light Goddess using her light particles to analyze his darkness.
What was this feeling…
It was very strange…
He didn’t know how to describe it.
If there was one adjective that came close to describing his current state, then it had to be omnipotence!
However, there was a condition.
He had to make sacrifices. He had to sacrifice everything about himself back when he was a human. He had to sever his contracts with his beast pets and slaves, discard the memories regarding everyone he knew, and allow himself to fuse with the entire heaven and earth, thereby becoming the Heavenly Dao!
“Omnipotence and omniscience. How tempting…” An Lin murmured in a calm and ethereal voice.
The entire heaven and earth changed color with his words, and the dark heavens tremored.
He could already see the future ahead of him. He would have control over everything and transcend beyond all life forms. That would be a very wonderful feeling. Every single cell within his entire body was jumping for joy. They yearned to become the Heavenly Dao, as that would be the highest level of evolution, taking them to unprecedented heights!
The choice An Lin made to become the Heavenly Dao seemed to be the most correct one.
“Is it the right choice?
“Becoming the Heavenly Dao really would be quite splendid…”
Heaven and earth suddenly fell deathly silent.
Dao integration tribulation for normal Return to Void Pinnacle Stage mighty figures was always an earth-shattering event. However, An Lin’s tribulation transcendence was very peaceful, as if heaven and earth were silently awaiting a final decision from him.
That decision seemed to be the key to whether An Lin would successfully transcend his tribulation or not.
“However…”
An Lin smiled, and his expression was filled with unyielding pride. “Why do I have to sacrifice everything in order to become the Heavenly Dao? Only a kid would make a choice; I’m already an adult, so I want everything!”
An Lin’s voice fell, and the entire heaven and earth remained silent for a while longer.
That answer had plunged the whole world into a stunned silence.
The Heavenly Earth God and Heavenly Sea God’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Was An Lin insane?!
Where did his confidence stem from?
He sure dared to choose!
In the distance, Xu Xiaolan seemed to have sensed his decision, and a vibrant smile appeared on her face as she appraised the darkness in the sky.
Boom!
The sound of an explosive thunderclap suddenly erupted in the dark and peaceful sky. It was as if the heavens were venting its rage upon that one white-robed man.
An Lin spread his arms open and roared into the sky.
“Come! I’ll take any tribulation you can throw at me!”
The heavens continued to rumble, and an indescribable sense of pressure descended upon the entire world.
It could be seen that the heavens had truly been enraged. It was trying to award An Lin with the berth of a god, only for An Lin to turn it down! How could it not be angry?
The darkness suddenly split open, and a darkness divine seal emerged before crashing down upon An Lin and exploding like a bolt of divine lightning.
“It’s divine punishment!” the Heavenly Sea God exclaimed.
The Heavenly Earth God’s eyes lit up. An Lin had completely incurred the wrath of the heavens, so surely he wouldn’t be able to escape backlash, even if he were the Heavenly Darkness God.
It would be best if An Lin could be killed by that backlash; that would save him a lot of trouble.
An Lin’s anguished cries erupted amid the explosions of energy. His voice was filled with pain and suffering, and it was music to the Heavenly Earth God’s ears.
However, he soon discovered that something was amiss. Why did An Lin sound like he was enjoying himself through all that pain?
He turned his gaze upon An Lin again, only to discover that a pitch-black divine seal had appeared behind him, and it was emanating an extremely terrifying might.
“How could that be… He absorbed the divine seal?”
Right at that moment, another earth-shattering burst of rumbling erupted, and a second divine seal tore through the darkness and descended. The seal was twisted and jagged, giving it the appearance of a bolt of divine lightning, and it fell viciously upon An Lin’s fist.
Cries of pain and pleasure erupted from An Lin’s lips yet again.
Immediately afterward, a peculiar divine seal constructed from black lines appeared on his fist, upon which his aura became even more powerful.
Boom!
Another divine seal fell upon his chest before imprinting itself there, further lending him its power.
The Heavenly Earth God was completely flabbergasted.
Things were not progressing as he had imagined!
Wasn’t there supposed to be divine punishment?
Those divine seals clearly weren’t descending to punish An Lin; they were only making him stronger!
He was a paramount Heavenly God and was thus connected to the Heavenly Dao. As such, he could glean the true thoughts of the heavens.
An Lin had made the insanely bold decision that he wanted to retain his human identity and attain the Heavenly Dao’s power at the same time.
Thus, the Heavenly Dao was showing him what it would feel like to have both!
The Heavenly Earth God felt as if he had been dealt a major blow.
His entire massive body had paled in color.
“Why? Why do the heavens display such favoritism toward Darkness?
“One dares to ask, and the other is willing to give; what is going on with the Heavenly Dao?”
The Heavenly Earth God’s expression was a little dazed.
The Heavenly Sea God was even more astonished and was cast into severe self-doubt.
What was happening? Didn’t An Lin have to sacrifice his lifespan to attain the heavenly darkness power? So why was it that he was able to become even more powerful? In fact, it looked like he was making a breakthrough!
Was the power of darkness that he used before not his regulation power?
The Heavenly Sea God felt like his brain had been reduced to a pile of mush.
How could An Lin be so powerful? He was just an incomplete Heavenly Darkness God!
If he became even more powerful, who would be able to subdue him in the future?
The Heavenly Sea God was feeling extremely panicked, but he couldn’t do anything aside from transmitting his voice surreptitiously to An Lin, “Don’t worry about your safety, Brother An Lin! I’ll keep you safe even if it means giving up my life!”
An Lin didn’t respond to the Heavenly Sea God’s words. He was focused entirely on absorbing the power within each and every darkness divine seal, and during that process, he could feel his darkness divine dao being perfected, thus taking him to a new peak!
The divine seals falling from the sky were blessings from the subconscious will of the Heavenly Dao.
For normal Return to Void Pinnacle Stage mighty figures, the final steps for them would be to have the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth acknowledge their divine dao. In that case, they would have successfully reached the Dao Integration Stage. However, An Lin didn’t need the acknowledgment or approval from the Heavenly Dao.
He was the heavens itself!
For him to succeed, all he had to do was acknowledge himself!
As such, not only was he not punished by the heavens, but he also received one powerful divine seal after another.
The heavens were giving him the berth of a god, and those divine seals acted as a foundation for that berth!
One hour later.
An Lin had fused countless darkness divine seals into his body, and those seals merged together to create a relentlessly rotating chaotic vortex behind him.
He opened his eyes, and they had returned to their normal black and white colors.
“From this day forth…
“I am Darkness.
“I am a paramount Heavenly God!”
His voice reverberated throughout the entire continent and was heard by all of its inhabitants.
“It’s too dark.”
An Lin waved a hand gently through the air, and the darkness that enshrouded the sky over the entire continent instantly dispersed!
In that instant, An Lin had successfully reached the Dao Integration Stage and become the god of darkness!
